The present invention is directed to a differential carrier for vehicles, and in particular to a differential carrier causing oppositely disposed wheels to simultaneously and continuously rotate.
Vehicle differential carriers or differentials are well known for use in vehicles to allow the driving wheels, such as the two front wheels in a front wheel drive vehicle or the two rear wheels in a rear wheel drive vehicle, to rotate at different speeds, but with the same torque being supplied to the driving wheels. The ability to apply power to the driving wheels at different speeds is desired because the wheels will necessarily rotate at different speeds when, for example, the vehicle is turning. In the case of turning, the wheel located on the inside of the corner travels a shorter distance as compared to the outer wheel.
Vehicles with a standard differential may encounter trouble when one of the driving wheels is located on a slippery surface, such as in mud or on ice, and the other wheel is on a surface providing sufficient traction. Rather than enable the wheel on the surface with traction to drive the vehicle, the wheel on the slippery surface will merely spin.
To overcome the above noted difficulty, differentials are known to be supplied with various components or structures to control or limit the rotational speed disparity between the driving wheels affixed to the differential. Such devices include limited slip differentials that contain a combination of clutch and friction plates for selectively distributing additional torque to the non-spinning wheel based on the rotational speed difference between the wheels. Still another device is a selectively locking differential, which may incorporate cam plates, flyweights, activating links, and friction plates. Such differentials selectively couple or “lock” the axles of the two driving wheels to the differential upon sensing that one wheel is rotating sufficiently in excess of the other, thereby enabling both wheels to rotate at the same rate. Upon the release of torque to the driving wheels, such as upon the release of the accelerator pedal by the vehicle's driver, the locking mechanism disengages to thereby again enable the axles to rotate at different speeds.